Would it shock you to believe that wrestling families have some of the best chemistry in the world? Wrestling families go through everything together, Jimmy and Jey Uso have had the chemistry since the womb. Working together it can make beautiful wrestling whether the family members are partners or opponents, the storytelling can be the most incredible part of their feud. Wrestlers have the ability to tell impeccable stories and that usually increases the stock of a family feud. Chemistry is key and we’ve seen it on multiple occasions where family members go at it inside the squared circle for bragging rights or just because one is sick of being overshadowed.
Roman Reigns vs Jey Uso
The most recent insert into the family feuds pool but it has been the best thing on WWE programming for a very long time. Centring around Roman’s want and need to be recognised as the leader and face of the Anoa’i family but having some kickback from his cousin, Jey, who was wanting to prove he’s not just a tag team wrestler whilst his brother, Jimmy, is out injured. Reigns have been magnificent in the role of the evil heel of the duo, Jey portraying the sympathetic babyface with a never say die attitude. Reigns locked in a guillotine on the injured Jimmy at the end of Hell in a Cell, which caused Jey to quit the match. The raw emotion from both men has been utterly brilliant, both men coming to tears at various points, with Reigns being faked to punish Jimmy. This feud is nowhere near done and I for one, can’t wait to see what happens next after Reigns’ win inside Hell in a Cell.
Vince McMahon vs the McMahon Family
Vince McMahon is a very eccentric character when you think about it, he’s feuded with every member of his own family inside the ring including his son-in-law, Triple H. McMahon faced off, and defeated, Triple H for the WWF Championship in 1999 before vacating it and feuding over the title. We’d get the formation of the McMahon-Helmsley Era and the whole storyline with Trish Stratus and causing Linda to be in a wheelchair. Shane returned and faced Vince at Wrestlemania X-Seven which Shane would win after Linda rose from her wheelchair and booted Vince in his million-dollar jewels. His final journey to the squared circle happened at No Mercy 2003 against none other than his daughter, Stephanie. Stephanie was the GM of Smackdown at the time but Vince wanted to her to resign, she refused so he booked them in an I Quit match where Vince won after Linda threw in the towel. Imagine explaining this to a non-wrestling fan, a man having fights with his son, son-in-law, daughter and causing his wife to become a vegetable due to his antics.
Matt Hardy vs Jeff Hardy
A family feud we’ve seen twice, in two different companies with one being better than the other. Originally, Matt turned on Jeff at the 2009 Royal Rumble, costing Jeff the WWE Championship due to his jealousy of his brother’s success. The two would exchange wins between Wrestlemania 25 and Backlash before Matt injured his hand in the match at Backlash. Jeff was the catalyst for Matt’s turn to the Broken One in Impact after an I Quit match between the two. Matt became obsessed with deleting Jeff, who he referred to as Brother Nero, due to the injuries he received. Again, the pair traded wins before the first-ever Final Deletion appeared in which the loser would drop the Hardy name. Matt would win forcing Jeff to be known as Brother Nero permanently. They’d eventually reunite and become broken together giving us one of the best gimmicks we’ve seen in years. These two grew up competing so it makes no surprise both feuds were fantastic, the Impact one being better than the WWE mainly because of Matt’s character brilliance.
Eddie Guerrero vs Chavo Guerrero
A little known feud between Eddie and Chavo back in WCW, first coming about after Chavo lost to Booker and Eddie suplexing him to teach him a lesson. Chavo would become his ‘slave’ and they’d essentially team up for a little while. Chavo would lose to Ultimo Dragon at Spring Stampede, prompting Eddie to have a go but would lose to Ultimo Dragon at Slamboree despite Chavo interfering which caused Chavo to kiss Eddie after the match and show insane behaviour. The two would face off in a hair vs hair match which Chavo lost and would shave his own head in front of Eddie. The two would be reunited after Eddie saved Chavo from a beating at the hands of Stevie Ray and that Chavo was no longer his ‘slave’. The end of this came at the time where Eddie wanted his release from WCW as he was not viewed as a main event star, how wrong they would be.
Bret Hart vs Owen Hart
Is there a better family feud that The Harts? The most beautifully dysfunctional family in all of wrestling, full of some of the best talents we’d ever see. After Bret and Owen collided during a Survivor Series match causing Owen to be eliminated, Owen would come back to the ring and have a heated argument with Bret before walking off as his family watched on. Owen would adopt the black and pink, the sunglasses and began using The Sharpshooter to send a message to Bret, the message being Owen was angry at being in the shadow of his brother. During a tag match, after the two seemingly reconciled, Owen snapped and kicked Bret in his injured knee, the injury that left him unable to tag in Owen to this match, the catalyst of his frustration. Owen would defeat Bret at Wrestlemania X as well as winning the 1994 King of the Ring but would have to watch on jealously as his brother won the WWF Championship. Owen would cost Bret the WWF Championship at Royal Rumble 1995, giving us the final matches between the two which Bret comfortably won. The King of Harts vs The Excellence of Execution, was there anything better?
Nikki Bella vs Brie Bella
This feud really came out of nowhere because of how the Bella Twins had been shown on TV as thicker than thick. Brie became embroiled in a feud with Stephanie McMahon off the back of the way The Authority treated her husband, Daniel Bryan. At SummerSlam 2014, Stephanie defeated Brie after Nikki turned on her. Nikki quickly became affiliated with Stephanie, who declared Nikki as the face of the WWE Divas division, granting her a title match which she failed to win. Nikki also gained the power to book Brie into handicap matches, but Brie would win all of them. They’d be booked into a match together where the loser would be the winner’s personal assistant for 30 days, a match where Brie lost. After the 30 days were up, the storyline simply disappeared. It was a weird end to the feud that could’ve really gained traction as Brie turned heel to help Nikki win the WWE Divas Championship from AJ Lee at Survivor Series later that year.
Edge vs Vickie Guerrero
Aha, got you with the swerve, not all siblings. Edge and Vickie were ‘married’ in the storyline but it came to light that Edge was just using Vickie’s position of General Manager to get title shots and to remain protected, which doesn’t surprise us because it’s Edge. Edge would be caught cheating on Vickie with their wedding planner, Alicia Fox, which would cause Vickie to punish Edge by reinstating The Undertaker, who defeated Edge at SummerSlam and chokeslammed him through the ring. The two would reconcile after Edge returned at Survivor Series to win the WWE Championship, replacing the injured Jeff Hardy, before Big Show became involved in a weird love triangle, with Vickie cheating on Edge with Show. The whole thing would be exposed by John Cena, bribing Vickie to get into the World Title match at Wrestlemania XXV. La Familia was one of the most underrated stables in WWE history and the dissolution, reunion and eventual break up were all done fantastically with Edge proclaiming he used Vickie and her power.
Kane vs The Undertaker
Boom, another curveball, this family is kayfabe! Kane and Undertaker’s rivalry is legendary, the way we saw Kane introduced to the WWF, the matches they had before teaming together and destroying all, to the random feud we got in 2010. You can’t just pinpoint one specific moment between the two but the most iconic has to be Kane’s arrival at Badd Blood: In Your House, ripping the door off the Hell in a Cell before hitting his brother with the Tombstone Piledriver. Kane would also attack Taker and trapped him in a coffin before setting on fire at the Royal Rumble following his arrival. The other moment between the two that is so iconic in my eyes is Undertaker’s return at Wrestlemania XX after Kane attacked him during a Buried Alive match at the prior Survivor Series. The visuals from Kane as Paul Bearer shrill voice hit the speakers and the Deadman returned. Their rivalry was fantastic and when they would team up together, the moment felt so electric.
There will be more wrestling families to come in the future and a lot more feuds to come, we could see the next generation of Bella’s feuding in 25 years’ time and maybe it’ll be given a bit more exposure in 2045.